Morocco reinstates compulsory military service

Morocco’s ministerial council approved a draft law reinstating compulsory military service for young men and women for the first time since 2006, the Royal Cabinet said in a statement.

“Female and male citizens aged between 19 and 25 years are obliged to do military service for 12 months,” said the statement, read out by Royal Palace spokesman Abdelhak Lamrini.

The draft law, which enters force once published in the official bulletin, will set out exemptions and the rights and responsibilities of military service participants, the statement said.

“The military service aims to promote patriotism among the young, within the framework of the correlation between the rights and responsibilities of citizenship,” it said.

Morocco has seen youth-led protests in economically marginalised areas such as the Northern Rif region and the eastern town Jerrada in recent months. Some critics see the law as a move to encourage loyalty to the state among young people facing economic and social problems.